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I just read this whole thread. Really needed this. I've never met you but I've read many of your threads and admired your commitment to pushing the envelope..be it the hood you fabbed or trying the jaguar blower rotor thing. Going to boost the battery in the SC and go for a spin. It's not perfect but it deserves attention. I don't like crawling under a car and playing what's that noise/leak/ smell?- as much as I used to. 2 months ago it was the window motors..now the snout..I swear if ever get a tat it'll be "it's always something" The SC is alot like life...ups/downs, set backs, proud moments, embarrasments ...rarely easy--but it's unique and yours alone. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. Best of luck. I hope you have many proud moments at the shootout!

I just read this whole thread. Really needed this. I've never met you but I've read many of your threads and admired your commitment to pushing the envelope..be it the hood you fabbed or trying the jaguar blower rotor thing. Going to boost the battery in the SC and go for a spin. It's not perfect but it deserves attention. I don't like crawling under a car and playing what's that noise/leak/ smell?- as much as I used to. 2 months ago it was the window motors..now the snout..I swear if ever get a tat it'll be "it's always something" The SC is alot like life...ups/downs, set backs, proud moments, embarrasments ...rarely easy--but it's unique and yours alone. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. Best of luck. I hope you have many proud moments at the shootout!

There's some great stories and analogies in this thread. I'll weigh in......I still check in here on a weekly basis, as I am no longer an SC owner, but many of the people here were so great and helpful that I still enjoy coming here.

In 2014, I'd got my first SC, a white 1991. It was a rebuilt salvage title car, but the previous owners (a guy named Jeff and his father) had done a very good job of piecing things together from parts cars. The car drove well and had no apparent problems, and I was excited to own one of these. The supercharged engine was a great starting point, but when I had read more about all of the unique things that the cars had, I was even more of a fan.

I took it to the local Sunday car show for the first time in 2015, and most people walked by it with no real interest or anything. But the guys that were into the car were REALLY into it, because they knew what it was. I remember a guy, Rennie, coming up and talking about it and knowing a fair bit, but being surprised that the tweed/ leather combo was a factory option (he only knew of leather seats). A father and his son came up, Bob and Chris, and even invited me back to their house to talk cars and hang out and have a beer. I did, and they were super cool guys--Ford guys, too. It was a blast.

Some people may remember my story here, I think the thread title was something like "you're not gonna believe this". I was wrenching on my SC on the front street, and a girl had stopped in front of a driveway......very haphazard, and improper. She stepped out of her car and asked, "....is that your car?". I was kind of wary, because of the quick temporary parking job that she did, as well as the excited, almost nervous tone in her voice. I was thinking "oh crap, I cut ice queen off in traffic somewhere, and she remembered the licence plate '1FSTBRD' and is gonna yell at me or something. GREAT". I answered that it was my car, and she responds with something that I honestly did not see coming....."nice car! So I finally meet the person that owns this car. It's beautiful!!". You can imagine that this is like a movie or something that I'd be watching, except that I'm in it. Pretty and tall girl Kate turns out to be this super cool girl that I ask for her number to hang out sometime, and she gives it to me. I wish that I had this on video for you guys, because it was an awesome moment over a car. She turned out to be a "Ford girl" and had to "roll with the Ford jokes.....'found on road dead', you know". She doesn't like her current Ford Focus, because it's a company car and she likes something with more character......hence the like for the 'Bird.

When I did a CarFax, the car was in two accidents before I'd got it: one major one for $7800 or so, then a second one for $2500. A third one happened when I had the car for $2000 or so (which originally was around $3200 but I had helped keep the cost low by having the bumper be re-painted and the driver's turn signal lens be replaced). This third one was a hit and run in a parking lot (some may remember a couple of years back that I had posted a picture from a witness that saw the Nissan Rogue that hit my car and left a fake phone number). I won that case! Imagine the jerk's surprise when they had the insurance company contacting them, even with a false phone number given! That's karma for you. So I kind of feel like this particular SC cheated the odds, because the adjuster said that with the second accident, it shouldn't have been back on the road, and especially with this third one, I think that the overall good condition of the car (and my stack of receipts for upgrades and things) kept it on the road to see another day. Any car with $13,000 worth of damage or so is going to be an insurance liability, yet this car seemed to have nine lives. The best part was that the Rogue had pretty much completely messed up the right side of their vehicle (according to my witness), yet the Bird had just minor cosmetic damage to the bumper, and the driver's side turn signal lens was laying on the ground.

My experience with the SC in terms of the power not being enough, is probably a lot like many of yours. At first, you're amazed at what the blown 3.8 can do in terms of burnouts and laying a strip of rubber on the ground, but then it's not quite enough. When you're cruising down the highway and pin the throttle, it feels much slower than in that first gear off the line. And so it begins! I'd bought a whole bunch of things off not only some people on here, but also from Bill at SC Performance. Then I really went further and did the cam and heads and Quarterhorse. I had did my 3.8 Mustang heads and cam just a month prior to that, which already shares some similar components (ie: coil pack, oil filter, etc) and everything ran fine. I learned how to shim for pushrods, torqueing the cylinder heads and what an art that is, etc. The car fired right up, no problem, so I was feeling confident about working on the SC.......and confident about making some serious power. With all of the mods on my SC, I'd got a 0-60 on the highway down to the low 6 second range (depending on traction), and this was on the stock 30 lb injectors, and I hadn't blown up the engine or the head gaskets or anything, so I was feeling even more confident about the upgrade to heads and a cam. I had already replaced the blower with a ported late model one, had installed a DIC, done my own spark plug job, etc, so I was fairly familiar with the workings of the SC engine.

The SC, on the other hand, after the cam/ heads swap had a nasty slow crank condition that the car wouldn't fire. Some people may remember this thread at about this time last year. I tried everything......new battery, crank position sensor, DIS, ECU, checked all fuses, grounds, tested all wiring with a continuity tester, new ignition switch, etc etc. I tested all the wires from the DIC to the crank sensor, coil pack, etc. I ran the diagnostic EEC test, and everything came up fine (of course). I troubleshooted things every night for probably a month and a half or so.......frustration continually mounting with each night and each week, and as the days turned into weeks and with the nights getting shorter, which started turning into months going into the late fall, I had to make a decision: tow the car to my storage facility (not close, so it would have been an expensive tow) and store it until next spring, or try to sell it complete--with a rebuilt title and a no-start condition. I tried to sell it for $1700, which I thought was fair for a car with the modifications and upgrades that this car had. No takers. Then I tried to sell it for $1200, which wouldn't have even covered the cost of the heads/ cam, let alone an installation fee. Still no takers. Then I figured that the only way that I'd be able to recover some money, would be to dismantle the engine and sell off the parts (some may remember a thread that I made in the "for sale" section that had some great go fast parts in it). So I tore the engine down and took everything off of it that I could sell, but the exterior still had some really good parts, and the interior was near flawless.

So you'd figure that it wouldn't be too difficult to sell it for maybe $500, right? Wrong. Still no takers. I ended up calling the Diabetes association for their donation cars program, thinking that they'd want it. WRONG. They only wanted complete cars! So then I called up one of my favorite wreckers that I usually go to, thinking that they'd give me maybe a couple of hundred bucks. Wrong again. I said that they can have it for free, if they tow it. They ended up waffling, saying that the free tow might not cover the cost of what they can get for the car (especially without the supercharger on it). So I ended up calling another place, and I remember a guy named Fred answering the phone. I told Fred that he can have the car for free, if he tows it. He took me up on the offer, and I was at work at the time that he had booked to tow it, so I was really hoping that the car was gone by the time that I got home.......it was taking up my parking spot and I otherwise had to park my Mustang on the street.

Finally, the car was gone, and it was with mixed feelings.......my anger at this car was approaching ridiculous levels, to the point where it was affecting the rest of my life. I felt like a failure........spent all that money, but you know what? It was almost as if the car just said that it wished that it were dead, and that it had lived out its life. It had used up its other nine lives; this was ten. Also, I was wondering that with all of the modifications, whether the car's spirit just wasn't what it originally was.......a luxury sport car that was meant for comfortable, quiet power, and not screaming, loud power. I kind of felt that in my pursuit of power (like some have mentioned here) has turned their car into something that is spiritually not its own anymore, and that by trying to turn it into an out and out performance car, that its lost its uniqueness.

But I had so many great stories that were associated with the car, and there were times that I enjoyed feeling like I was a part of a secret club, you know? It's something that I still miss. But I don't think that I'll ever own another SC again, just because I think that I'll always want it to be something that it's not. If I want a performance car, I'm just getting a performance car. If I want a daily driver, I'm just getting a daily driver that is better on fuel. If I want something luxurious, then it's just a cruiser, grandpa style. Sometimes we can be guilty of wanting something to be too many things, and that's often when it starts to fail at all of those things.

Maybe you have a point about the cars abilities in today's world. It seems very few will go bananas modding the car at this stage most are happy to just keep them running.

There are 4 types of owners/club member. The majority are folks that just want to keep the car running or bring it back to operating standard after the last previous owner handed it off. Then there is the handful that keep them in garages and are Low mileage examples, these owners are stuck with them cause nobody is willing to pay what they are really worth. Those that appreciate it's value and are willing to pay the price already have an SC so there goes that Idea. The third kind Are the young insired crowd won't pay up for the collectible but are willing to build it up, they have some connection about the car family or memory, and mod the living Jesus out of it to catch up to the top dogs in the club, some quit when the road get tough some persevere and pull through and end up with empty wallets in the end. Then there is veterans that has sunk so much money restoring and modding that theire is no turning back they know all too well about the shuffle. There are one or two engineers and craftsman in that category, and their skills allows them to keep the costs down.

So the car is a niche, and getting through frustration seems to go hand in hand with ownership. What's appealing though is that when you get the speed bug this club recognizes you and congratulates you for your persistence and hard work because they know all too well that you did something unique and went against logic to get there.

Was It a smart idea? Not one bit, but was it cool doing it? Most here will agree it is.

Maybe you have a point about the cars abilities in today's world. It seems very few will go bananas modding the car at this stage most are happy to just keep them running.

There are 4 types of owners/club member. The majority are folks that just want to keep the car running or bring it back to operating standard after the last previous owner handed it off. Then there is the handful that keep them in garages and are Low mileage examples, these owners are stuck with them cause nobody is willing to pay what they are really worth. Those that appreciate it's value and are willing to pay the price already have an SC so there goes that Idea. The third kind Are the young insired crowd won't pay up for the collectible but are willing to build it up, they have some connection about the car family or memory, and mod the living Jesus out of it to catch up to the top dogs in the club, some quit when the road get tough some persevere and pull through and end up with empty wallets in the end. Then there is veterans that has sunk so much money restoring and modding that theire is no turning back they know all too well about the shuffle. There are one or two engineers and craftsman in that category, and their skills allows them to keep the costs down.

So the car is a niche, and getting through frustration seems to go hand in hand with ownership. What's appealing though is that when you get the speed bug this club recognizes you and congratulates you for your persistence and hard work because they know all too well that you did something unique and went against logic to get there.

Was It a smart idea? Not one bit, but was it cool doing it? Most here will agree it is.

I'm in a couple of the categories I was somewhat young when I started but now I'm 44. As far as money is concerned thats where I dont really care its just money a nd you can't take it with you however I have most of all of the big expenses out of the way finally.

I'm in a couple of the categories I was somewhat young when I started but now I'm 44. As far as money is concerned thats where I dont really care its just money a nd you can't take it with you however I have most of all of the big expenses out of the way finally.

That's a subjective statement, if it's in your budget by all means. I used to think like that, now it's college for the kids, good retirement and keeping my head above water, for the average sc owner they are probably are just starting at life. So I would advice to be a little wiser with their car addiction.

My name is Lazaro-- and I think I'm squarely in the 1st group. I've had my 92 black automatic about 10 yrs and a 93white 5spd for about 4 yrs (which I did in fact take for spin yesterday) I've proven myself more stubborner than a SC twice over. My 92 was a back up car I bought at tow yard lein sale. I ended up loaning it to my father-in-law who loaned it to my brother-in-law...In about 4 wks he managed to wreck the driver fender and door and blow the headgaskets. Out of sheer stubborness i wouldn't junk it. That turned in to finding this forum --resealing a late model long block, ported late model blower 75mm tb dual core ic. bhc dampner arp studs...underdrive pulleys 5% jackshaft. I replaced the fender and door and sprayed the whole car single stage gloss black. My 80 yr old dad has been driving daily for about 3 yrs or so and still gets it moving on occasion. my 93 belonged to a CA old time SCCOA member Elbert Dooley. He just wanted it go to someone to get it going again and let me have it for $500. It was practically a shelf for his garage and were a coy miller engine used to be-- a hamper. good bones though..straight, no rust 5 spd 3:55 gears and trunk full of parts including headers, centerforce clutch..over about 3 yrs i battled a lein on the car from a defunct credit union.. several trips to the DMV and several hundred dollars later I have clean title. Built a early model block .030 over. late model rods.home ported the heads and had a machine shop do the valves, ported late model exhaust manifolds. mild cam from Dalke. ported late model blower / a 10% pulley,75mm TB, MP plenum FMIC 42 lb injectors. wide band and Dalke tune on the quarterhorse that is for my purposes-- dead nuts spot on. both cars were looking at the crusher..both fought me like a mutha...both on the road and registered and rolling...not perfect..not the fastest but I'm somewhat at peace with what they are. What i like most about these cars is they showed my kids taking difficult tasks--seemingly impossible is possible a bit a time. The best way to chop down a big ol' tree is 5 whacks a day. I'm in my 40s and back in school for about a yr because a mobile app is pretty much going to replace what I've been doing within the next couple years. I guess I'm the old project now!. Luckily I'm stubborn..5 more whacks!!